What do you look for in a story?

[MichaelGH]

Hello

I was wondering what people are looking for in a story, particularly a romance. Though it really can be any story. Is there anything specific you want?

 

[KeithD]

I want it finished and edited. What? . . . oh, you mean in reading one. I don't often read the stories here, so . . .

 

[ElectricBlue]

Hello

I was wondering what people are looking for in a story, particularly a romance. Though it really can be any story. Is there anything specific you want?

Romance?

I'd say readers like well developed characters with emotion and motivation (not cardboard cut-outs), drama; raunchy sex is okay (you don't need to tone it down, in my experience). Decent story telling.

The usual things - competent writing telling an interesting story with engaging characters, reality is acceptable (leave your mother at home). Tissue box endings (both for tears and wiping up afterwards) are also accepted, provided nobody gets hurt. Dying is okay, violence not so much.

YMMV.

 

[NotWise]

Hello

I was wondering what people are looking for in a story, particularly a romance. Though it really can be any story. Is there anything specific you want?

Romance readers are most interested in romances. That is, stories in which a man and a woman who don't initially know each other develop a mutual interest in a relationship, struggle through obstacles to make it work, and end up happily ever after.

Readers in most categories (including Romance) seem to reward sentimental stories and happy endings.

Sex is good, too.

 

[SamScribble]

Believable characters. Careful writing. An HEA ending - or the suggestion that a HEA ending is just around the corner. But, that said, a 'happy-for-now' ending can also work. And, as EB said, Romance doesn't mean no rampant table-top fucking. Just make sure that it fits the story.

 

[RejectReality]

The focus still needs to be the relationship, and the build-up to it. Passionate sex works in the category, but it needs to be a natural outgrowth of the relationship building. The more the sex dominates, the less the readers like it.

In most categories, the sex can be the story and do just fine. That just doesn't fly as well in Romance. Stories with no sex or a tease and fade to black can perform there as well as anything else, so long as the relationship building is engaging.

That's what the readers are there for. If you earn their trust with that, then you can write some detailed sex and bring them along for the ride.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Romance readers are most interested in romances. That is, stories in which a man and a woman who don't initially know each other develop a mutual interest in a relationship, struggle through obstacles to make it work, and end up happily ever after.

Readers in most categories (including Romance) seem to reward sentimental stories and happy endings.

Sex is good, too.

Note that RKO shot a happier ending for The Magnificent Ambersons; I think Orson Welles was out of the country at the time. (The strange thing is that the new ending was similar to the novel.) Blade Runner also got a happier ending that Ridley Scott cut from a later version.

At least at Literotica we are get the final cut.

 

[Jada59]

I can't tell you. A little romance is okay but I come here for the sex!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

For a Romance story:

• A plot. A real, old-fashioned plot, where events follow in some sort of logical sequence, each one building on previous events.
• A plot with an emphasis on developing relationships, probably (‘cause this is an erotica sites) leading to sex.
• Which implies good characterization, with believable reactions. Grief-stricken widows don’t normally throw themselves at the first delivery boy, for instance.
• Credible sex. Except in sci-fi, for instance, men don’t have six orgasms.
• Real-world people rarely have 38EE boobs or 11” willies, either. Nor should your characters.
• A plot where everybody is happy at the end. ’Cause romance, dammit.
• Oh, and of course, better-than-abysmal spelling and grammar.

 

[SynSlave]

Believable characters. Careful writing. An HEA ending - or the suggestion that a HEA ending is just around the corner. But, that said, a 'happy-for-now' ending can also work. And, as EB said, Romance doesn't mean no rampant table-top fucking. Just make sure that it fits the story.

I'll add to what I bolded:

Tropes, tropes and more tropes. Enough!

Soccer mom's that are playboy centerfold material and "multi-task" careers, kids, dating and saving the world on a daily basis are tiring. Forty year old men and women with the bodies of a twenty-two year olds make for some great sex scenes (I'm still using them), but someone real once in a while is nice too.

And characters that don't suffer from every television and YA fiction trope that's been done to death... Young athletic women with a single tat/piercing and an array of wardrobe options; containing enough ignorance/innocence to empathize with, yet ALWAYS walk away stronger from every trivial AND catsrophic piece of tension an author musters--is irritating. They always need affirmation from their friends, but never anything more than that because their friends are always weak and useless; except for the head nods and emotional support they provide. Can't even talk about the Vampire crap they've been pumping out since Twilight. I really cant, or my heart rate will spike.

Plus it's been done to death... Hunger Games was the final straw for me but that didn't stop Hollywood from recycling (and ruining) Shadow Hunters, Divergent and Maze Runner--not that the books were much better... except maybe Shadow Hunters... still pisses me off they turned that into a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rehash.

These characters are just as ridiculous and overused as the male anime protaganist that wins a battle by unlocking their "true" potential... over and over and over and over and over and over...
Or the "loner" male protaganists that just needed the right person to tame/domesticate him. Usually a single mother with adorable young children.

If we're focusing on straight up romance, some realistic behavior and REAL problems would be nice. Don't care if its a past-due mortgage or a space cruise that hits an asteroid... as long as the character does something other than have sex and wait to be rescued. Being in love with your husband's brother and younger secretaries trying to trick a man into having sex with them aren't problems; they're day dream fantasies. Real characters with real problems would be a refreshing change of pace.

I realize I'm bridging movies and books now but if we're talking straight up romance I'll take Far and Away or You've Got Mail over melodramatic silliness like Titanic or 50 shades of Garbage.

Ok... I'm done ranting for now. You can put down the tranq guns. No! Dont shoot!

*thwup*

I was just going to add... zzz...zzz...

 

[Vix_Giovanni]

Romance readers are most interested in romances. That is, stories in which a man and a woman who don't initially know each other develop a mutual interest in a relationship, struggle through obstacles to make it work, and end up happily ever after.

Readers in most categories (including Romance) seem to reward sentimental stories and happy endings.

Sex is good, too.

For a Romance story:

• A plot. A real, old-fashioned plot, where events follow in some sort of logical sequence, each one building on previous events.
• A plot with an emphasis on developing relationships, probably (‘cause this is an erotica sites) leading to sex.
• Which implies good characterization, with believable reactions. Grief-stricken widows don’t normally throw themselves at the first delivery boy, for instance.
• Credible sex. Except in sci-fi, for instance, men don’t have six orgasms.
• Real-world people rarely have 38EE boobs or 11” willies, either. Nor should your characters.
• A plot where everybody is happy at the end. ’Cause romance, dammit.
• Oh, and of course, better-than-abysmal spelling and grammar.

I wanted to throw in my two cents, but NW and TP already gave you their two dollars. Follow those formulas and you’ve got a winning Lit Romance category-romance. The only thing I would add is that readers seem to either equally enjoy or prefer bittersweet endings as opposed to straight HEA.

Are you currently writing a romance or plotting things out? Best of luck! DreamCloud’s works are all high rated/very popular and follow the structure NW/TP laid out. Another good examples is “Andy” by rwstewart.

 

[Voboy]

Romance?

Characters you want to root for. A happy ending.

In any story?

Excellence in writing, humor, plausible situations, and characters that you want to read more about. Dialogue that reads naturally, not like dutiful wooden statements that merely push the plot.

I enjoy a story whose characters I'd like to meet.

 

[skin2win]

Realism...build up...like really she just saw your cock for the first time and the sex ensues?

 

[HeyAll]

It should focus on a particular fetish/theme and really play to that.

If it's straight laced sex that happens between people who would have sex anyways, what's the point? Might as well watch porn.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

It should focus on a particular fetish/theme and really play to that.

If it's straight laced sex that happens between people who would have sex anyways, what's the point? Might as well watch porn.

This *is* porn. It's just written instead of visual.

 

[BelleCanzuto]

I thnk that most of the important stuff has already been mentioned. Add mine to the votes for realistic-ish characters who aren't all obviously pefect.

The only different thing I'll add is applicable to any genre and it's getting the right amount of detail. I find myself getting bored when authors go into minute detail about every thing the characters are wearing, every piece of furniture in the room, or every action the characters take each second of their day. It can be tricky, though, and I have to be careful of this myself. You need enough information to paint the picture of what's happening. You need enough detail to give the readers a feel for the people, why they act the way they act*, and where they're doing all this. But if there's too much, the story gets bogged down.

I had an whole other paragraph using a story I just read as an example of too much detail, but then I realized I was belaboring the point. Which is my point, and something I focus in on when I'm editing my stories. Anyway, write me enough details that I can get a picture of what's going on. But excise anything that's not in service to the story.

*afaiac, believability in how characters act is more important than realism in how they look. 18 y/o girls are not instantly expert cocksuckers from the first time they see a penis. 20 y/o guys don't automatically know how to give mindblowing orgasms from the second time they see a pussy. And like someone else wrote, if your lusty widow is going to bed down with someone at the funeral, you'd better have a REALLY interesting backstory to make that plausible.

 

[JustbeingRandy]

Good old nasty hot sex. Come to this site for the sex, not romance, not erotica. Nasty hard wild fucking fucking.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Romance?

Characters you want to root for. A happy ending.

In any story?

Excellence in writing, humor, plausible situations, and characters that you want to read more about. Dialogue that reads naturally, not like dutiful wooden statements that merely push the plot.

I enjoy a story whose characters I'd like to meet.

So very, very well-stated!

 

[Voboy]

So very, very well-stated!

Right?

And contrary to a lot of surly recent posts, I still find a lot of very readable stories here from a host of different writers that feature nicely-drawn characters, realistic dialogue, AND smokin’ hot pussy-jabbin’.

 

[ElectricBlue]

And contrary to a lot of surly recent posts, I still find a lot of very readable stories here from a host of different writers that feature nicely-drawn characters, realistic dialogue, AND smokin’ hot pussy-jabbin’.

What an elegant turn of phrase! Points to that man .

 

[jaF0]

Fantasy, fun, enjoyment, brevity.

I don't care anything at all about character background/development, buildup, romance, conflict, drama, etc. I didn't even use names in a couple of mine.

I want Penthouse Letter/Variations type stories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The only different thing I'll add is applicable to any genre and it's getting the right amount of detail. I find myself getting bored when authors go into minute detail about every thing the characters are wearing, every piece of furniture in the room, or every action the characters take each second of their day. It can be tricky, though, and I have to be careful of this myself. You need enough information to paint the picture of what's happening. You need enough detail to give the readers a feel for the people, why they act the way they act*, and where they're doing all this. But if there's too much, the story gets bogged down.

The trick, I think, is to have all that detail very clear in your own mind's eye, right down to the small stain on the carpet where wine was split two years ago (which is a whole other story), and draw down on what you need, as you need it.

This, mind, from someone who writes about acres of silk and lace and dreams as long as rivers, and once measured out a story in the number of buttons undone... so possibly not the best advice on succinctness.

"We undressed, dear reader, and fucked."

Or ten thousand words - take your pick .

 

[MichaelGH]

The only different thing I'll add is applicable to any genre and it's getting the right amount of detail. I find myself getting bored when authors go into minute detail about every thing the characters are wearing, every piece of furniture in the room, or every action the characters take each second of their day. It can be tricky, though, and I have to be careful of this myself. You need enough information to paint the picture of what's happening. You need enough detail to give the readers a feel for the people, why they act the way they act*, and where they're doing all this. But if there's too much, the story gets bogged down.

I had an whole other paragraph using a story I just read as an example of too much detail, but then I realized I was belaboring the point. Which is my point, and something I focus in on when I'm editing my stories. Anyway, write me enough details that I can get a picture of what's going on. But excise anything that's not in service to the story.

Yeah that's part of the reason I write mostly in first person. It gives me a better idea for what to describe as the goal is to give this character's perspective.

 

[Voboy]

The trick, I think, is to have all that detail very clear in your own mind's eye, right down to the small stain on the carpet where wine was split two years ago (which is a whole other story), and draw down on what you need, as you need it.

Yess!

A good story is good, I think, because it's real. You see the dent in the car, the chipped paint on the doorjamb or, yes, the stain on the carpet, and in real life you remember it. You know where it came from. Your characters do, too, whether you include it in the story or not.

Your characters need to feel as though they're living a real life. Not your story.

 

[SimonDoom]

Confining my answer to stories I read at Lit, I agree with HeyAll. I want a story with a clear erotic focus, and I want an entertaining exploration of that topic. It can be long or short.

It must have reasonably good grammar and punctuation.